Goals and objective
A Short Statement about the Importance of Goals, Objectives, and Strategies
By Bob Freitag
Direction is provided only when there are clear and concise goals and objectives.
You may know the “what”—such as rivers flood. You may understand the “so what”—the impacts caused by the flooding. But can you devise a “now what”—a course of action, a— To avoid the adverse impact you need a direction. You need goals and objectives.
The clearer and more measurable your goals the easier your actions are to perform and evaluate. If your goal is "to do good and advance justice," for example, you will have to define "good" and "justice" at some point. You might as well do it within the context of the statements themselves.
An overly specific goal may force you into a corner. For example, Davenport, Iowa made the press in 2001 when the Mississippi flowed into their community—again. Most similar communities along the river have "flood walls," so Davenport might certainly set as its objective "to build flood walls to protect Davenport by March 2002" for their updated flood plan. Such an objective is clear, concise, and certainly measurable, but it doesn't take into account any potential alternative solutions. A study of the ecology of the river and long-term hazards associated with flooding from various perspectives might show that relocating or elevating structures would be the soundest alternative. If you decided on objectives without studying alternatives, you would meet your objective of "building flood walls," but you might not solve the problem in an effective and efficient way.
An understanding of goals, objectives, and strategies is fundamental to all planning and evaluation procedures, and the field of emergency management is no different. Here are some definitions for issues, goals, objectives, and strategies drawn principally from FEMA publications.
Issues:
An understanding of the issues involved and the development of issue statements precede the
By Bob Freitag
Direction is provided only when there are clear and concise goals and objectives.
You may know the “what”—such as rivers flood. You may understand the “so what”—the impacts caused by the flooding. But can you devise a “now what”—a course of action, a— To avoid the adverse impact you need a direction. You need goals and objectives.
The clearer and more measurable your goals the easier your actions are to perform and evaluate. If your goal is "to do good and advance justice," for example, you will have to define "good" and "justice" at some point. You might as well do it within the context of the statements themselves.
An overly specific goal may force you into a corner. For example, Davenport, Iowa made the press in 2001 when the Mississippi flowed into their community—again. Most similar communities along the river have "flood walls," so Davenport might certainly set as its objective "to build flood walls to protect Davenport by March 2002" for their updated flood plan. Such an objective is clear, concise, and certainly measurable, but it doesn't take into account any potential alternative solutions. A study of the ecology of the river and long-term hazards associated with flooding from various perspectives might show that relocating or elevating structures would be the soundest alternative. If you decided on objectives without studying alternatives, you would meet your objective of "building flood walls," but you might not solve the problem in an effective and efficient way.
An understanding of goals, objectives, and strategies is fundamental to all planning and evaluation procedures, and the field of emergency management is no different. Here are some definitions for issues, goals, objectives, and strategies drawn principally from FEMA publications.
Issues:
An understanding of the issues involved and the development of issue statements precede the